Description: This interdisciplinary course will
introduce students to a variety of world mythologies and mythmakers, from the
beginnings to the modern period. Designed to explore the relationship between a
culture and its myths as expressed in specific literary or religious works,
“Mythologies” offers a means of understanding cultural difference as well as
the fundamental topics of human desire and aspiration (creation and birth, the
purpose of life, heroic struggle against nature and death, the hope for
rebirth, etc.). Included mythologies: Babylonian, Sumerian, Hindu, Egyptian, Greek,
Roman, Irish, Old Norse, Anglo-Saxon, Finnish, Mayan, Hopi, and modern (Borges,
Philip Glass).

Note: Graduate students can sign up for this course as an
English Department Graduate Directed Reading.

Requirements:
1 short paper, 2 exams, and 1 longer paper or project. Papers are
revisable and can be submitted as drafts for feedback. Attendance is expected;
repeated unexcused absences will count against you. Participation is encouraged
and boosts borderline grades.

V. The South Pacific: New Zealand
Film and Maori Myths

Dec. 1:
Niki Caro, dir., Whale Rider (please see this film before class;
available at the Reserve Room for library viewing)

Dec.2: Second
Exam due@ 5 p.m.

Paper Requirements:

Short
Paper (3-5 pp.) on a mythology or mythological work

Pick some aspect of the myth or
mythology to be discussed and present its significant features. For your paper,
try to focus on the text as a site for contestation and as narrative. You may
write on some aspect of the mythological works we have read, or pick a
mythology we will not cover and one myth within it to recover the hero’s
journey, or some other aspect.

Final
Paper (8-10 pp.): Write (create) a mythology of your own, making sure

you understand (by the end of the
semester) how a myth and mythology might be defined. Accompany it with
annotation or gloss explaining how your mythology works within the context of
the comparative mythologies we have explored in the course. Other forms of
artistry—musical compositions, art, films, weaving, etc.—are also welcome as
long as they are accompanied by a gloss.

You may also research a mythology
not covered in class. Students in the past have written about Denali,
Viet Namese, and native American myths other than those we’ve read in class.

Both exams and papers can be e-attachments; they are
honor code-bound but rewrites of papers are allowed up to the end of classes
and students may consult the WritingCenter or class
members for feedback.

1.Any
student with a documented disability needing academic adjustments or
accommodations is requested to speak with me during the first two weeks of
class.All discussions will remain
confidential.Students with disabilities
will need to contact Disability Support Services in the LeyStudentCenter.

2.Any
student with a disability requiring accommodations in this course is encouraged
to contact me after class or during office hours.Additionally, students will need to contact
Disability Support Services in the LeyStudentCenter.

3.If you have a
documented disability that will impact your work in this class, please contact
me to discuss your needs.Additionally,
you will need to register with the Disability Support Services Office in the LeyStudentCenter.